LANCHAS, SLOW BOATS of the AMAZON

IQUITOS to YURIMAGUAS, ida-vuelta
AUGUST 2015

I am aboard the Eduardo VIII, one of the legendary slow boats known as lanchas that go along the wide rivers of the Amazon region in lowland South America. The word lancha means ‘barge’ and they transport cargo, including foods, propane tanks, and even mototaxis; they also carry  passengers at an economic price. However, a trip between the port cities can take days and travelers can hang hammocks in the upper levels, rent a bedroom, or sleep on the metal floor (which is what I am doing).

The trip from Iquitos upriver and inland to the town of Yurimaguas takes about 3 days. However, delays happen and this boat first is held for an hour during the intense Santa Rosa storm, then for a night because of missing cargo or something like that I overhear. People walk around selling hammocks and plastic sheets…I buy the sheet cut to the meter and put it under my bags. Night on a docked ship with a bunch of guys, cuddling with my metal instrument…interesting.
By the time it leaves Iquitos, I have already taken a combi to Nauta, in attempts to get another, faster lancha. It’s 2 hours on the road and 9 or so by river. However, there is only one lancha, and at 4 am the next morning, I reboard the Eduardo VIII and settle on the floor in the cool predawn shadows. Someone has set up a tent here on the 3rd level and it’s a lot more crowded. We embark onto the Rio Marañon, just up from the confluence that makes the Rio Amazonas, and the vibrations from  the motors below are paradise as I lie in boatsleep.

 

Meals are included in the ticket price for trips a day or longer. However, when we stop at the first river town, San Regis, the local vendors come aboard, making the boat a floating mercado for a little while. This is an exciting time for everyone and gives travelers a chance to try local fruits, fish, and juices. About mid-day, the sun beats down strong and we all want to go walking or swimming…but we are on a boat, mid-river, and there is none of that. The kids are getting wild. The guys drink lots of Cristal Beer. Puffy clouds fill the sky and it rains into one side of the boat but not the other.
By night we finally reach the next town, but it has become dreamy and time doesn’t matter much. One passenger plays a musical saw and I jam with him. Caldo de Pollo is served and stars shine brightly in the sky. Moths and other things flutter around the searchlight and passengers gather on the balcony as new cargo is loaded on the lancha.

The sunrises on the river are some of the most beautiful I have seen. The Marañon reflects orange and we follow its snaky curves. We pass a PetroPeru oil refinery and a town and several other boats of different types. A guy on a barge waves at us but no one waves back.
Playing Juaneco y Su Combo on my laptop after lunch gets me free drinks and a bunch of Peruanos who now like me. The classic cumbias like ‘Ya se ha muerto mi abuelo’ and ‘Las Olas de Huallaga’ sound perfect with the water sounds and jungle scenes around. We watch as many dolphins dive for fish in late afternoon where one tributary flows in.

The next morning, we are on the Rio Huallaga and it seems we have traveled far through the night. During desayuno I hear that we will arrive at Yurimaguas around noon. The treeline drops a little, hills start to form to our west, and riders pack bags and get on their phones, trotting around anxiously and tapping rhythms madly on the metal surfaces of the boat. Some of the port worker guys are really frisky and try to get me to dance with them. I didn’t sleep well, so I decline and go back to my floor spot.
As planned, we arrive in Yurimaguas at about noon. It’s like a celebration, a beautiful chaotic circus, about how I imagined it to be. I wonder if riverboats on the Mississippi in the 1800’s were anything like this.

The return lancha downriver to Iquitos from ‘Yuri’ takes less time, about 48 hours with a stop in Nauta the night before.  This time the boat is called “Gilmer IV” but looks and feels exactly like the Eduardo VIII, for the same cost (you can bargain for S/80). This boat carries many fewer passengers, and among them is a small friendly group of travelers from around the world — Lisa from Australia, Marcela from Brasil, Christian from Mexico, and Francisco and his family from Lima. They practice circus arts and during the two sunsets, we go to the 4th level – usually reserved for the crew – and play music, spin poi, and dance on the mast.

It’s a fresh breath of energy for me, as I am on guard, travel-worn, and kind of sick again. Passing the familiar towns and curves of the Huallaga and Marañon, we talk and share stories of our past and future experiences. By the time we wake at the third sunrise, we are on the Rio Amazonas with an hour till Iquitos and more boats fill the wide river as we approach our port city. The breeze whips through the boat and little birds almost fly in, but all is well in dreamland.

There are lanchas up the Rio Napo into Ecuador, down the Rio Amazonas into Brasil, and up the Rio Ucayali to Pulcallpa and also the small port town of Requena. My travels through Requena and the Rio Tapiche will be told in another story, which contains some difficult experiences.
[In 2015] The best way to find lanchas is to go to the individual ports and ask the captains about schedules and prices. For example, in Iquitos the majority of lanchas dock at Puerto Masusa at the north end of the city, and it’s easy to get there by mototaxi or by bus with a little walk. The lancha between Iquitos and Pulcallpa takes about 5 days each way. You can get to Pulcallpa direct from Lima on the Carretera Central, and also to to Yurimaguas via Tarapoto from the coast on the Carretera Norte. Iquitos, however, is like an island…only accessible by airplane and boat.

Music soundtrack

´Las Olas del Huallaga´ by Juaneco y Su Combo